the real success of red light cameras

Seattle sees a 33% drop in red-light violations, and calls its camera ticketing scheme a success:

As of May 31, Seattle police issued 13,966 citations based on footage from the cameras, after screening 14,672 incidents.

The resulting fines — at $101 per citation — resulted in $901,056 in revenue, which goes to the city's general fund.

"So far, everything that we've looked at, from reducing the amount of injury, to the level of injury, has been successful," Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said.

He said he wants the program to grow.

Increasing yellow light times by even 1 second could reduce violations by 53%, though--and even just improving signal visibility would cut violations by a quarter. The real success of the program isn't a modest decrease in risk, but a major increase in revenue. Safety second.